Arunothai Owner Faces Child Pornography Charges

The State Police today charged the owner of a Pawtuxet Village restaurant with the manufacture, possession and distribution of child pornography for allegedly distributing images and videos of an 8-year-old child on the Internet.

In a release, police said Arunothai Asawabowornan, 33, of 319 Indiana Ave., Providence, was arrested around 8 a.m. Thursday after an investigation that began several months ago with a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and ended with police tracing e-mails to Asawabowornan's home.

Asawabowornan is the owner of Arunothai restaurant on Broad Street, according to city records.

Police said the ICAC Task Force/Computer Crimes Unit recieved a tip from the NCMEC based on a video that contained images of child pornography that had been uploaded to the Internet from an email address in Providence. The video contained images of a female child in a pornographic manner.

Detectives executed several search warrants to Internet service providers which showed the e-mails had been sent from 319 Indiana Ave. They also led to police obtaining additional e-mails of the same child depicted in even more pornographic images and videos. 

Those pictures and videos were sent to individuals in foreign countries, police said, prompting the involvement of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agent. 

Police said the on-scene investigation "confirmed Ms. Asawabowornan inappropriately photographed the child, posted the images and videos on the internet, and emailed the images to individuals in foreign countries."

The child is being examined at Hasbro Children's Hospital and is in the custody of the state Department of Children, Youth and Families. 

“This investigation demonstrates how disturbing these cases can be and the importance of the cyber crimes unit. Quick communications with all the stakeholders is vital to ensure the safety of victim,” said State Police Superintendent Col. Brendan P. Doherty.

Asawabowornan was processed at the State Police's Lincoln barracks and was arraigned in Sixth Division District Court. Bail was set at $10,000 with surety ($1,000) and she was ordered to have no contact with children under the age of 18.

Asawabowornan could face no more than 15 years in prison on each of the three charges and a fine of $5,000 for each charge.

The ICAC Task Force is a Department of Justice grant-funded program administered by State Police and detectives from West Warwick, Coventry, Johnston and Pawtucket.